Daniel Lozano

Updated Saturday, February 17, 2024-18:17

  • Galician elections Pepe Mujica encourages the foreign vote from Uruguay with his support for the BNG

Former Uruguayan president Pepe Mujica, one of the most respected voices on the Latin American left, is the first leader who has separated from the bloc that defends the Bolivarian revolution to criticize

Nicolás Maduro

's latest attack against the opposition and civil society. "Venezuela is an authoritarian government, you can call it a dictator... Call it what you want," the former president stressed with his usual style and after giving a few historical twists.

The criticisms of Mujica, once a faithful ally of

Hugo Chávez

, coincide with the censorship that has united various countries in the region to face the latest events in Venezuela, both the imprisonment of the activist Rocío San Miguel and the closure of the Alto Office UN Human Rights Commissioner in Caracas, such as the disqualification of the opposition leader,

María Corina Machado

. Uruguay, Argentina, Ecuador, Costa Rica, Paraguay and Guatemala issued a joint statement to make a "strong call to the Venezuelan authorities to release her (San Miguel) immediately and drop the charges made."

Like the United States and Canada, they also demanded full respect for human rights. Already before these statements, the government of

Luis Lacalle Pou

withdrew its ambassador in Caracas and justified it by the evidence that Venezuela suffers from a dictatorship, which provoked the anger of the vice president,

Delcy Rodríguez,

who described him as a "lackey of the empire".

Mujica didn't like this answer either:

"That lady lost her motorcycle

. That's how you can't talk about the presidents of America. You shouldn't talk, even for convenience and diplomatic relations."

Chavismo usually reacts with extreme fierceness against those who dare to criticize them in the international community, something that the new Ecuadorian president, Daniel Noboa

, has already suffered

("He who messes with Venezuela dries up," Maduro threatened) and the government of Canada. in the last hours ("Get your noses out of our country"). Against the US, despite the agreements reached between both governments, they are constant.

In the so-called Patria Grande, which brings together leftists and populists, only the Chilean progressive

Gabriel Boric

has dared on several occasions to raise his voice against human rights violations in Venezuela.

"We make a special call to the governments of Latin America to raise their claim demanding the permanence of the Office of the UN High Commissioner," Machado stressed after the government decision. The response of international organizations has shown their rejection in a forceful way.